Just as the Dark One promised Shuuren, Hell has been unleashed upon the shinobi world. Wave after wave of Silence and Hitokage alike have begun to spill through the ports and pathways surrounding every shinobi country great and small. The fires of battle rage across the across the continents as the shinobi world fights for its very existence. The plan seems to be a rather simple one, to rip and tear through everything until the place that the meteorite the shinobi plan to use to charge up their armies to be able to take on Yuuma's armies is found.

This assault is one most horrible. Each member of Yuuma's army that the others manage to slay stands right back up as a meat shield for a Hitokage that fights even harder despite wounds. Worse than that, even members of the shinobi forces that are slain do just the same, turning on their own friends and clanmates the moment they are killed to become a part of the attacking force. Tonight may be the hardest night ever for the shinobi world to endure as this ever-growing force charges relentlessly… yet, if they can somehow manage to chop off the head of this gigantic snake with their formulated plan, in turn annihilating the strongest part of this force in the Hitokage and possessed dead, they may yet survive this night.

We open our Suna-side scene in the rural country. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and the hordes of darkness are frolicing across the land. If by birds singing you mean carrion birds cawing as they circle overhead and by frolicing you mean slashing and burning with the mad zeal of a plundering army. c.c; In this situation, naturally the full military of the Land of Wind, both regular and shinobi, has been mobilized in response. This includes genin, though they have generally been sent on the less immediately dangerous missions, such as evacuating people from defenseless little towns to more stalwart positions. Of course, even for them it's only a matter of time before they encounter some of the enemy forces. Let's zoom in on a group of them and see how they're faring with a bunch of panicky townsfolk while smoke from the next town over rises on the horizon, shall we? :)

«OOC» Sousa says, "So, we could do this by pure RP, or by +rpcombat, or I could try to figure out how to set up Clary as a GM punching bag (which might take me a little while), or we could try to learn the CRS system described by the objects sitting in this room. Any preferences?"

«OOC» Malik says, "+rpcombat"

«OOC» Jiro says, "No preference from me. I'm game for whatever."

«Pyre» Rikuto says, "+rpcombat is more than enough."

«INK» Arika would rather have the rpcombat or pure RP

«OOC» Sousa says, "Sounds fairly unanimous, then."

RP: Sousa joins the roleplay.

COMBAT: It is now Sousa's turn.

«OOC» Sousa says, "Join after making your first pose."

«OOC» Jiro lets more important folks pose first >.>

«INK» Arika says, "Rikuto is the head"

«Pyre» Rikuto says, "What land are we in? Land of Wind or of Tea?"

«OOC» Sousa says, "Wind."

«OOC» Jiro says, "Water!"

«OOC» Malik says, "Fire."

«OOC» Malik says, "Heart!"

«OOC» Malik says, "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"

«Pyre» Rikuto genjutsu paddles Jiro and Malik. -.-

«OOC» Jiro highfives Malik!

«OOC» Malik highfives.

Eremi has left.

«OOC» Sousa says, "You missed earth."

«OOC» Malik says, "True."

«IGA» Ayumu is earth!

«OOC» Jiro says, "Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Heart."

«OOC» Jiro says, "I had to start where you did."

It was hardly a place where a chain of command was clear and simple though Miira Rikuto didn't wait for things to be made clear. "We need to keep moving, if people aren't leaving willingly use force! Anyone left behind will just be part of their forces when they break through." The teenage Genin turns his attention towards the skies, looking at the smoke that was thickening in the town not that far away. 'This isn't good..'
Returning his focus onto the village they were in, he presses his hands together, forming a seal as he molds his chakra, preparing to form a wide reaching genjutsu as he makes his way towards one of the houses. "The road's clearing towards the south, make your way out of the city. You'll be guided to Sunagakure. You'll be safe, but hurry." Rikuto's voice broke slightly at the word 'safe' as he knew it was a lie, likely less than half of them would survive if the onslaught didn't slow in the other town.

RP: Rikuto joins the roleplay.

Arika is one of those genin who are helping out some panicking townsfolk. The girl is trying to blow away some of the smoke that is coming from whatever is on fire while also dashing around trying to lead people out of the town and /really/ away from the army that's heading their way… She's also keeping a close eye on Jiro, since he's here as well. "Hurry up, people. The bad guys aren't coming any slower," she grumbles, pushing a rather reluctant grandfather towards the gates of the town and down the main road.

RP: Arika joins the roleplay.

Jiro, the freshly graduated Genin, was not going to be left behind when he heard what was happening. Especially not if Arika was going to help. The boy, though young and usually a little troublemaker, is quite serious for the moment and doesn't have much trouble in getting people to listen to him as he directs the civilians out of the village towards the route they're making them go. He's moving about like a maniac, helping here, making people leave behind stuff there, just trying to get the people to go as quickly as possible.

Malik is acting as a scout for this particular group. With his enhanced senses he can detect people who are under rubble or who might not be found because of their position. Sinbad is in the air, sending Malik periodic reports by using his cries and body language, letting the Hayato know just where to find his targets. Malik works quickly as he firmly asks people to evacuate, and even helping those who can't move under their own power.

Well, we could make dealing with the townsfolk's antics a big part of the scene, and it could even potentially be interesting, but who wants to dwell on that when there's combat around the corner? ;) So let's fast-forward a bit. The last few wagonfuls of civilians have been loaded up and are getting ready to set off toward relative safety, when…*FWOOOSH!* At the other end of town a house gets turned into kindling. A wild-eyed rogue-nin leaps up onto the house next door and gleefully watches the burning. "YAHAHAHA!! What'd I tell ya boys, this town's totally deserted, we don't need to wait for the main force! Now this place is ours to pick clean on our own!" >8D "Uh, yeah boss, but there won't be much plunder if you keep burning every — " "SHUT UP! Fan out and see if there are any stragglers we can play with!" Uh-oh, looks like the wagon train's going to need some protection. :o

«OOC» Sousa says, "So there's one pyromaniac big baddie and about half a dozen ordinary mercs. Have at it."

«OOC» Malik grins.

«OOC» Malik elbows Jiro. "You're my battle buddy."

«OOC» Jiro cackles, "They're going down!"

«INK» Arika says, "Sousa, et"

'..They couldn't even look through the building but they are torching the town already?' Bringing his hands together, Rikuto quickly shapes a quick fire chain before exhaling, breathing out a small sphere of fire, aiming at the air above the center of the city. Clenching his hands together, the young Miira acts in two parts, the first is causing his flame orb to detonate over the city, flooding the sky with light.
The light was a distraction as much as it was a lure. With his hands clinched, Rikuto makes a single sign as he focuses, attempting to snare as many within the city as he could, causing the lives to twist. The Genjutsu itself was simple, nothing dramatic was formed but replayed. To several of the pillaging forces they would watch as their leader gleefully destroys sections of the city catching them in the blasts, cooking them alive.

Arika continued to help those that needed assistance, regardless of what the task might be. Eventually everyone has been evacuated from the town, but… then there's a giant explosion! She squeaks a bit in surprise, the girl not expecting to see a house on fire. She probably should have, as the Silence is known for things like fire-arrows, but… Well, the crazy leader is all that's needed to spur her into action. Arika takes a moment to consider, imagining that not many would like her charging right at the leader. She keeps her chakra gathered around her and sprints at the nearest goons, wind sharpening around her and slicing at the men without much warning. It would seem to come from all around them, no set direction. All they would knoww is that Arika seems to be causing the pain (if they are even aware of what is past Rikuto's genjutsu).

COMBAT: Arika attacks target 1 with WIND-SHARP with a roll of: 33

COMBAT: Arika finishes her turn.

COMBAT: It is now Jiro's turn.

«OOC» Yama says, "Sup."

«OOC» Sousa pages Yama the necessary scene info.

Jiro is making sure that there's no one else left in the closest houses when the explosion sounds. The boy turns quickly and blinks in surprise, then narrows his eyes a bit as he runs back to the others. Once there he turns with a pair of kunai and throws them towards whatever guys might be closest before looking to see where everyone else is. Arika is charging in which makes him cringe slightly and he looks around quickly to note where the others are before looking to the last departing wagon. His eyes shift back to the incoming baddies and he pulls of his sash and just…waits and watches, keeping an eye to make sure none of the others need help.

COMBAT: Jiro attacks target 1 with SHARP with a roll of: 23

COMBAT: Jiro attacks target 1 with SHARP with a roll of: 16

COMBAT: Jiro finishes his turn.

COMBAT: It is now Malik's turn.

Malik turns towards the burning building and as the men talk, his eyes narrow. "So..it's like that." He glances over at Jiro. "Let's do it, bro." He slips his bow off his back and shuffles to the side as he lets loose an arrow just as Rikuto lights up the sky with fire. "We gotta stop these guys. I'll provide cover fire from here."

Something big is going on and Yama just knows it. He feels it right in his gut and pretty much all over. Might be that explosion that just went off. As someone that's always passing by and never actively involved, he found it strange that an explosion would just up and happen. He draws closer to the area to get a better look to see that things are pretty empty. Was it gas? It should be put—no wait, there are people. Looks like this could turn ugly if it already hasn't.

«Pyre» Rikuto thinks he seriously needs to get 3k HP sooner rather than later.

Yay for using the Force complicated chakra emissions on the feeble-minded. "Boss, calm down, you're gonna — no, NO!!! AAAAAGH!!!" DX Several of the mercenaries flail aimlessly under the influence of Rikuto's genjutsu, making them easy prey for Arika's wind strikes and one of Jiro's kunai. The other kunai, unfortunately, is dodged by a goon who somehow managed to resist the genjutsu. "Snap out of it, you idiots, we got ninja!" Malik's arrow manages to find its mark in a merc's bicep even without the genjutsu assisting. "Gah! You little rat, I'll strangle you with that bow!" The mercenaries rally and attack the Suna nin. In particular, the leader comes leaping over the buildings and blows a stream of fire at Rikuto. "Somebody worth playing with here after all, eh!? BURN FOR ME!!!" >D

Clasping his hands together, Rikuto acts on instincts and suffers for it. A barrier of wind begin to wrap around the young Miira, but it does little to halt the fireball, if anything if he didn't act quickly enough it would consume him whole. Raising a gloved hand to his face, Rikuto shields his face from the licking flames, though steam begins to flow from his form. "Flames.. You're wanting me to burn?" A faint snarl crawls across his lips before slapping his hands together with a set of very odd seals, making the patterns for a weak flame but also of a gale.
Breathing out, a rush of air begins to brush past the leader, but also several of the others. "We don't have time to be nice, aim to kill them, not just wound. Understand?" Turning his head to the side, Rikuto looks towards the other Genin around him before snapping his fingers and causing the air itself to cause on fire from the embers around the town.

Arika is a bit too fast for the attackers, it seems, the girl leaving a clone to take the hit for her while she dashes on ahead. She continues to keep the wind around her swirling with kunai-like blades, attacking any around her within range as she rushes through the ranks. She decided that Jiro and Malik would be able to do good together, at least, and is leaving her friend to the Hayato and Sinbad. About halfway into the forces, she skids in her spot and attempts to dart back to her friends.

Aim to kill. Jiro can do that. The boy only gives a slight bob of his head as he hears what Rikuto has to say without taking his eyes off of the incoming baddies. For now he keeps an eye on Arika but knows she can take care of herself fairly well. Still he's not letting her out of his sight. The boy brings his steel cloth up and blocks the first strike towards him before jumping back away from the second. The moves in towards the closest goon and sweeps the cloth low before hardening it to try and trip the man up before flinging it out to drill into him. Whether or not he's succesful with that goon he quickly jumps up towards the man that attacks Malik and brings his next fang down towards him.

RP: Malik transforms into SINBAD.

Malik hates it when they get close. So he uses some manuvers to get some distance between himself and his opponent. He executes a backflip, cleanly doging the first attack, but as he goes to dive to the side, his thigh is slashed for a small wound. He rolls up to a knee and withdraws one of his specialty arrows. He aims it at the thug and as the flash of light and a loud bang sounds out, he rolls again, giving him a different perspective just as Sinbad dive bombs the guy towards his head. He then fires a second arrow for center mass. It was a kill shot, aimed directly for the heart.

«INK» Arika says, "Hmm… It's a tad odd to see someone use the moves you created"

«OOC» Malik usually has a feeling of pride. That the move was so good that someone else wants to use it.

«INK» Arika grins a bit. "Or the person just didn't have many options"

«OOC» Yama says, "Really…"

«OOC» Yama says, "How in the world did my only skills become a stun.."

«OOC» Yama hangs his head.

«OOC» Jiro pats.

«OOC» Malik only has three skills himself. Archer shot will be used a LOT.

«OOC» Jiro says, "Think I used all of mine in that one round. Yep."

"HEY!" Yama calls out. "What do you think you're doing here?!" He was already on the move towards the guy that was doing the most talking. Could be any one of them, really, but the leader really rubbed him the wrong way. He launched himself towards the boss with the intent of locking him in place. Sense would dictate that he really shouldn't just up and jump in, but his sense of justice outweighed his sense of logic and now he's in the air ready to tackle the guy and hold him until something broke under that hold.

«OOC» Yama has two skills. XD

COMBAT: Yama attacks target 1 with STEEL-VICE with a roll of: 17

COMBAT: Yama finishes his turn.

COMBAT: It is now Sousa's turn.

«OOC» Yama thought he had more general stuff that could be approved out of cg, but guess not.

Things are looking pretty good for the Suna nin. Arika and Jiro each finish off a couple of mercs with their attacks. Malik's opponent manages to avoid the explosion, but the following arrow hits its mark cleanly, dropping him. x.x The random newcomer Yama isn't so lucky, one of the remaining mercs intercepts and grapples with him. "You don't even have a ninja headband, what's your beef with us?!" >.<; Finally, the pyromaniac silence leader's eyes bug wide open as he's enveloped by a scorching wind. 8O "What's — this?! Like — fire — but — no — flame…burns…so…good!" X.X Swept up in a perverted nirvana, he falls to his knees and collapses in the dust.
Well, taking care of those last two mercs should be relatively easy, right? :D Hoho, if only. Of the two, the one that isn't currently struggling with Yama backs up nervously, though he doesn't seem to be worried primarily about the Suna nin now. "Aw man, this part always creeps me out! No way I'm turning into one of them, I'm going back to the main army!" C.C; With that, he turns tail and runs…while the slain mercenaries, including the blister-skinned leader, start to pick themselves up with painfully jerky movements like poorly-controlled mannequins.The Children are here. >}
The mercenaries' bodies resume their assault, two each of them slashing at Arika and Jiro, while the leader blows another blast of fire at Rikuto. With his lips shrunk by the scorch release, the fireball turns out unfocused and weak, but wide-spread.

The massive fireball rushes forth and consumes the image of the Miira utterly though he would appear to moving closer towards the leader. Those looking closely at Rikuto would see that his face and his cloak were smoking, and slightly charred. A hand stays over his mouth, hiding how much he was coughing, trying to force the embers from his lungs.
"You die here!" was shouted, but only the leader would hear as a genjutsu begins to ensnare him. Rikuto in his genjutsu begins to weave a almost impossibly long chain of seals before holding out the tiger seal. From the flames and smokes around the city rise up dragons which breathed embers. Each raise their heads back before surging forward, each ripping a limb from the main body before swallowing it.. leaving the leader to bleed to death in a bed of embers.

«OOC» Jiro says, "How much damage?"

«OOC» Sousa says, "That was more damage than you needed to take. -.-a I was going to say that fireball was only 200 damage, basically a 'tricky' version of the attack."

«OOC» Sousa says, "Arika takes 150."

Arika squeaks, claws going through clone as she dances back and away from the attackers. She makes a seal, and wind whips up around her, the girl drawing upon it and sharpening its edge so that as she breathes out, the wind would slice and tear at the now-Hitokage that are plaguing the village. She considers briefly poking at Gyuki, but decides it's a bad idea.

«OOC» Jiro says, "Arika didn't get hit, I did :P"

«OOC» Jiro says, "So 150?"

«Pyre» Rikuto needed to take 300 from last round, haha.

RPCOMBAT: Jiro took 150 damage.

COMBAT: Jiro finishes his turn.

COMBAT: It is now Malik's turn.

Wait, these guys were dead what the heck is happening? Jiro turns back to face those that come at him and he can't quite get his cloth up in time, taking a hit to his shoulder. But he doesn't let it slow him down as he manages to block the second attack. He quickly pulls the cloth back and with a few quick movements he flicks it towards the nearest attackers, aiming to try and hit them in the heart or head, somewhere to hopefully keep them down this time!

«OOC» Sousa says, "Arika did take a hit, but yes, you take 150 too Jiro."

RPCOMBAT: Malik defends against with a DODGE…21

«OOC» Jiro says, "Oh you're right, sorry. Man I thought that was 27. I need to get my eyes checked."

«INK» Arika says, "What did I get hit by?"

«OOC» Sousa says, "The first blade strike, because your clone defense rolled less than it."

«INK» Arika thought she was rolling against the tackle >< Oh well

Malik blinks under the hood of his vest as the man he just killed got right back up as a zombie. If one could see under the mask that he wears over his lower face, they'd be seeing his mouth hanging slack. "I was told stories about these guys but I never expected to see one." He leans back to dodge the bladed strike, the attack being so close that it actually catches his clothing, causing a small tear in them. Malik frowns and then kicks out towards the back of the knee of the zombie. If he can get it to fall to one knee, he'd then reposition himself behind it and aim an arrow for the back of it's head.

COMBAT: Malik attacks target 1 with PHYSICAL with a roll of: 17

«OOC» Sousa says, "Nope, that one's for Yama. Sorry for the confusion, I was doing them in the order they came out in my pose. X)"

"Ah, so it's a grappling match you want," Yama states with the guy as they tussle around the area. He was ticked as he was blocked from his target, but since this goon was his new opponent, he'd gladly show him what's what. He forced the goon into an opening to expose him and begin throwing punches towards the guy. "I don't have any beef or a cow to bring it from, what are you even talking about?" He questioned. "And how does that even relate to a headband? What kind of cow wears a headband?" He was genuinely confused right now. Was that some sort of branding thing in these parts? Either way, this guy was causing problems and needed to be taken down.

Don'tcha just hate dealing with things that don't feel pain? :P The thing inside the Silence leader's body laughs at Rikuto's proclamation and the attempt to frighten him with mortal imagery. "I'M — ALREADY — DEAD!!! Let me teach you how it FEELS!" >D He sets his own hands ablaze with a quick spout of flame, then comes after Rikuto with a red-hot one-two combo. Meanwhile, Arika and Jiro are faring decently well with their opponents, each getting a couple hits in, but it doesn't seem to faze the blasphemies very much. They keep awkwardly swinging their weapons despite cut limbs. Malik's opponent manages to twist his leg in such a way to take the force out of the kick on it, but the arrow goes straight though his skull…for what it's worth, as he turns around and tries to headbutt Malik with the protruding arrow. >v< Yama at least is doing nicely, smacking his opponent heartily. "Owww! Dad's by noje!" DX The mercenary swings wildly at Yama through a haze of tears. Well, at least this one might end up being taken down without being killed, so there's one less meat puppet.

«OOC» Sousa says, "Though since you're already 100 more than you should've been, just do 100."

RPCOMBAT: Rikuto took 100 damage.

"Dead? Before you ev.." while he spoke, Rikuto's guard dropped and was struck cleanly in the face. Poof! Yet another clone, almost a dozen at this point and there were still more. Poof! Popped the second clone, though it would be seen Rikuto was starting to favor one side than the other, the flames making his clones nearly useless. "Forget it.. You can't feel pain.. good. Stand still."
The young teen's words were dry as his fingers flew into a new pattern this time. The result was a single flame, smaller than one of the younger genin's heads. Jumping away from the leader he shouts, "You like flames? Taste mine!" The flame didn't explode but it did move on its own, soon trying to burrow itself into the man's chest.

COMBAT: Rikuto attacks target 1 with PHANTOM-FLAME with a roll of: 26

COMBAT: Rikuto finishes his turn.

COMBAT: It is now Arika's turn.

«Pyre» Rikuto just.. face palms.

RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a WIND-DASH…35

RPCOMBAT: Arika defends against with a WIND-DASH…25

COMBAT: Arika attacks target 1 with WIND-UNBALANCE with a roll of: 20

COMBAT: Arika attacks target 1 with WIND-UNBALANCE with a roll of: 27

COMBAT: Arika attacks target 1 with WIND-UNBALANCE with a roll of: 33

«OOC» Malik says, "Still, the premise of that attack is just downright nasty."

RPCOMBAT: Arika took 150 damage.

«Pyre» Rikuto says, "Hmm?"

«OOC» Malik says, "Phantom Flame."

«Pyre» Rikuto says, "I need Serious Wounds to make better use of it. Serious Wounds, False death to ensure to stagger, then phantom"

«OOC» Malik nodnods.

Arika squeaks, backpedalling and avoiding further damage from the blades as she manages to see the Hitokage lash out at her just in time. She takes a moment to collect her chakra, then makes a handseal as she kicks out, sending a good blast of wind at a group of gathered enemies. "Jiro-kun! Ma-kun!" she shouts, trying to get the pair to attack those who may have fallen to the ground.

COMBAT: Arika finishes her turn.

COMBAT: It is now Jiro's turn.

RPCOMBAT: Jiro defends against with a STEEL-CLOTH-BLOCK…18

RPCOMBAT: Jiro defends against with a STEEL-CLOTH-BLOCK…21

«Pyre» Rikuto needs another two months before he could get it to do the damage he wants it to.

Jiro is not used to fighting the dead, that's for shield sure. When his attacks hit but don't actually seem to /do/ anything the boy is wary. As it is his defenses seem to suffer from it and another attack sneaks through to open a small gash across his chest. At least he managed to blunt most of the blow. Jiro quickly whips his cloth towards his attackers feet, trying to trip him up before drilling against for some type of vital point. When he hears his name the kids head snaps over to Arika and he quickly moves, jumping towards one of her targets to try and drill into that hellspawn as well. "You 'kay Ari?" He asks quickly, trying to look around to see how everyone else is fairing against these…things.

Malik's eyes widen as the arrow did no real damage. When the headbutt came, he leans back, the arrow missing his own head by scant inches before he pops back up and rapid fires two arrows at the man's face at point blank range, aiming for his eyes. If he wouldn't die, then he's attempt to take his sight. Sinbad pinwheels in the air and then dives towards the zombie's back, trying to keep his balance off to give Malik time to line up both shots. "I'm coming Arika…Jiro look after her until I get there…" He's sure the other genin is already on it though. Those two were as thick as thieves.

Yama gathers his chakra together to spread across his body and reinforce it to take in the haymaker that came for him. "That was a poor attack. I am ashamed for having to endure it," he remarked as he launched another three punch combo towards the goon. "This is how you throw a punch!" The last of his three hits was a haymaker performed in a similar fashion to the goon.

«OOC» Sousa says, "Well, I'm going to fudge things a little and say the four damaging attacks from Jiro and Malik were enough to finish the four goons, even though Malik's were supposedly both at a single target. X)"

«OOC» Malik nods.

The Silence 'leader' leers at Rikuto, preparing to dodge the slow-moving flame. Should be easy, right? Well, for some reason the body doesn't move quite quickly enough. c.c Maybe there was some lingering trace of its original owner that wanted to experience the fiery attack. Or maybe the scene runner wanted to give it a chance to work because he's trying to wrap up the scene. Whatever the case, the phantom flame does indeed burn through the corpse's chest. The man's head turns downward to peer at the new hole in his midriff. o.o Well that's pretty useless, a fire-user with no lungs to blow with! >P The body promptly collapses, whether because its pilot decided to abandon ship or was forced back to the realm from which it came.
Arika's wind pushes the ungainly corpses around, preventing them from avoiding the punishment that comes from Jiro's cloth and Malik's arrows. And it seems that said punishment is finally enough, causing the bodies to shudder and fall. After taking another flurry of punches, it's lights-out for Yama's opponent too. @.@ Fortunately he's not getting back up as a zombie, just now at least.
Well, threat dealt with, and the wagon train has a good head-start now! And a good thing too, because the horizon is starting to turn cloudy with the dust of many marching feet. c.c Time to high-tail it outta here!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Just as the Dark One promised Shuuren, Hell has been unleashed upon the shinobi world. Wave after wave of Silence and Hitokage alike have begun to spill through the ports and pathways surrounding every shinobi country great and small. The fires of battle rage across the across the continents as the shinobi world fights for its very existence. The plan seems to be a rather simple one, to rip and tear through everything until the place that the meteorite the shinobi plan to use to charge up their armies to be able to take on Yuuma's armies is found.

This assault is one most horrible. Each member of Yuuma's army that the others manage to slay stands right back up as a meat shield for a Hitokage that fights even harder despite wounds. Worse than that, even members of the shinobi forces that are slain do just the same, turning on their own friends and clanmates the moment they are killed to become a part of the attacking force. Tonight may be the hardest night ever for the shinobi world to endure as this ever-growing force charges relentlessly… yet, if they can somehow manage to chop off the head of this gigantic snake with their formulated plan, in turn annihilating the strongest part of this force in the Hitokage and possessed dead, they may yet survive this night.

We open our Suna-side scene in the rural country. The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and the hordes of darkness are frolicing across the land. If by birds singing you mean carrion birds cawing as they circle overhead and by frolicing you mean slashing and burning with the mad zeal of a plundering army. c.c; In this situation, naturally the full military of the Land of Wind, both regular and shinobi, has been mobilized in response. This includes genin, though they have generally been sent on the less immediately dangerous missions, such as evacuating people from defenseless little towns to more stalwart positions. Of course, even for them it's only a matter of time before they encounter some of the enemy forces. Let's zoom in on a group of them and see how they're faring with a bunch of panicky townsfolk while smoke from the next town over rises on the horizon, shall we? :)

It was hardly a place where a chain of command was clear and simple though Miira Rikuto didn't wait for things to be made clear. "We need to keep moving, if people aren't leaving willingly use force! Anyone left behind will just be part of their forces when they break through." The teenage Genin turns his attention towards the skies, looking at the smoke that was thickening in the town not that far away. 'This isn't good..'
Returning his focus onto the village they were in, he presses his hands together, forming a seal as he molds his chakra, preparing to form a wide reaching genjutsu as he makes his way towards one of the houses. "The road's clearing towards the south, make your way out of the city. You'll be guided to Sunagakure. You'll be safe, but hurry." Rikuto's voice broke slightly at the word 'safe' as he knew it was a lie, likely less than half of them would survive if the onslaught didn't slow in the other town.

Arika is one of those genin who are helping out some panicking townsfolk. The girl is trying to blow away some of the smoke that is coming from whatever is on fire while also dashing around trying to lead people out of the town and /really/ away from the army that's heading their way… She's also keeping a close eye on Jiro, since he's here as well. "Hurry up, people. The bad guys aren't coming any slower," she grumbles, pushing a rather reluctant grandfather towards the gates of the town and down the main road.

Jiro, the freshly graduated Genin, was not going to be left behind when he heard what was happening. Especially not if Arika was going to help. The boy, though young and usually a little troublemaker, is quite serious for the moment and doesn't have much trouble in getting people to listen to him as he directs the civilians out of the village towards the route they're making them go. He's moving about like a maniac, helping here, making people leave behind stuff there, just trying to get the people to go as quickly as possible.

Malik is acting as a scout for this particular group. With his enhanced senses he can detect people who are under rubble or who might not be found because of their position. Sinbad is in the air, sending Malik periodic reports by using his cries and body language, letting the Hayato know just where to find his targets. Malik works quickly as he firmly asks people to evacuate, and even helping those who can't move under their own power.

Well, we could make dealing with the townsfolk's antics a big part of the scene, and it could even potentially be interesting, but who wants to dwell on that when there's combat around the corner? ;) So let's fast-forward a bit. The last few wagonfuls of civilians have been loaded up and are getting ready to set off toward relative safety, when…*FWOOOSH!* At the other end of town a house gets turned into kindling. A wild-eyed rogue-nin leaps up onto the house next door and gleefully watches the burning. "YAHAHAHA!! What'd I tell ya boys, this town's totally deserted, we don't need to wait for the main force! Now this place is ours to pick clean on our own!" >8D "Uh, yeah boss, but there won't be much plunder if you keep burning every — " "SHUT UP! Fan out and see if there are any stragglers we can play with!" Uh-oh, looks like the wagon train's going to need some protection. :o

'..They couldn't even look through the building but they are torching the town already?' Bringing his hands together, Rikuto quickly shapes a quick fire chain before exhaling, breathing out a small sphere of fire, aiming at the air above the center of the city. Clenching his hands together, the young Miira acts in two parts, the first is causing his flame orb to detonate over the city, flooding the sky with light.
The light was a distraction as much as it was a lure. With his hands clinched, Rikuto makes a single sign as he focuses, attempting to snare as many within the city as he could, causing the lives to twist. The Genjutsu itself was simple, nothing dramatic was formed but replayed. To several of the pillaging forces they would watch as their leader gleefully destroys sections of the city catching them in the blasts, cooking them alive.

Arika continued to help those that needed assistance, regardless of what the task might be. Eventually everyone has been evacuated from the town, but… then there's a giant explosion! She squeaks a bit in surprise, the girl not expecting to see a house on fire. She probably should have, as the Silence is known for things like fire-arrows, but… Well, the crazy leader is all that's needed to spur her into action. Arika takes a moment to consider, imagining that not many would like her charging right at the leader. She keeps her chakra gathered around her and sprints at the nearest goons, wind sharpening around her and slicing at the men without much warning. It would seem to come from all around them, no set direction. All they would knoww is that Arika seems to be causing the pain (if they are even aware of what is past Rikuto's genjutsu).

Jiro is making sure that there's no one else left in the closest houses when the explosion sounds. The boy turns quickly and blinks in surprise, then narrows his eyes a bit as he runs back to the others. Once there he turns with a pair of kunai and throws them towards whatever guys might be closest before looking to see where everyone else is. Arika is charging in which makes him cringe slightly and he looks around quickly to note where the others are before looking to the last departing wagon. His eyes shift back to the incoming baddies and he pulls of his sash and just…waits and watches, keeping an eye to make sure none of the others need help.

Malik turns towards the burning building and as the men talk, his eyes narrow. "So..it's like that." He glances over at Jiro. "Let's do it, bro." He slips his bow off his back and shuffles to the side as he lets loose an arrow just as Rikuto lights up the sky with fire. "We gotta stop these guys. I'll provide cover fire from here."

Something big is going on and Yama just knows it. He feels it right in his gut and pretty much all over. Might be that explosion that just went off. As someone that's always passing by and never actively involved, he found it strange that an explosion would just up and happen. He draws closer to the area to get a better look to see that things are pretty empty. Was it gas? It should be put—no wait, there are people. Looks like this could turn ugly if it already hasn't.

Yay for using the Force complicated chakra emissions on the feeble-minded. "Boss, calm down, you're gonna — no, NO!!! AAAAAGH!!!" DX Several of the mercenaries flail aimlessly under the influence of Rikuto's genjutsu, making them easy prey for Arika's wind strikes and one of Jiro's kunai. The other kunai, unfortunately, is dodged by a goon who somehow managed to resist the genjutsu. "Snap out of it, you idiots, we got ninja!" Malik's arrow manages to find its mark in a merc's bicep even without the genjutsu assisting. "Gah! You little rat, I'll strangle you with that bow!" The mercenaries rally and attack the Suna nin. In particular, the leader comes leaping over the buildings and blows a stream of fire at Rikuto. "Somebody worth playing with here after all, eh!? BURN FOR ME!!!" >D

Clasping his hands together, Rikuto acts on instincts and suffers for it. A barrier of wind begin to wrap around the young Miira, but it does little to halt the fireball, if anything if he didn't act quickly enough it would consume him whole. Raising a gloved hand to his face, Rikuto shields his face from the licking flames, though steam begins to flow from his form. "Flames.. You're wanting me to burn?" A faint snarl crawls across his lips before slapping his hands together with a set of very odd seals, making the patterns for a weak flame but also of a gale.
Breathing out, a rush of air begins to brush past the leader, but also several of the others. "We don't have time to be nice, aim to kill them, not just wound. Understand?" Turning his head to the side, Rikuto looks towards the other Genin around him before snapping his fingers and causing the air itself to cause on fire from the embers around the town.

Arika is a bit too fast for the attackers, it seems, the girl leaving a clone to take the hit for her while she dashes on ahead. She continues to keep the wind around her swirling with kunai-like blades, attacking any around her within range as she rushes through the ranks. She decided that Jiro and Malik would be able to do good together, at least, and is leaving her friend to the Hayato and Sinbad. About halfway into the forces, she skids in her spot and attempts to dart back to her friends.

Aim to kill. Jiro can do that. The boy only gives a slight bob of his head as he hears what Rikuto has to say without taking his eyes off of the incoming baddies. For now he keeps an eye on Arika but knows she can take care of herself fairly well. Still he's not letting her out of his sight. The boy brings his steel cloth up and blocks the first strike towards him before jumping back away from the second. The moves in towards the closest goon and sweeps the cloth low before hardening it to try and trip the man up before flinging it out to drill into him. Whether or not he's succesful with that goon he quickly jumps up towards the man that attacks Malik and brings his next fang down towards him.

Malik hates it when they get close. So he uses some manuvers to get some distance between himself and his opponent. He executes a backflip, cleanly doging the first attack, but as he goes to dive to the side, his thigh is slashed for a small wound. He rolls up to a knee and withdraws one of his specialty arrows. He aims it at the thug and as the flash of light and a loud bang sounds out, he rolls again, giving him a different perspective just as Sinbad dive bombs the guy towards his head. He then fires a second arrow for center mass. It was a kill shot, aimed directly for the heart.

"HEY!" Yama calls out. "What do you think you're doing here?!" He was already on the move towards the guy that was doing the most talking. Could be any one of them, really, but the leader really rubbed him the wrong way. He launched himself towards the boss with the intent of locking him in place. Sense would dictate that he really shouldn't just up and jump in, but his sense of justice outweighed his sense of logic and now he's in the air ready to tackle the guy and hold him until something broke under that hold.

Things are looking pretty good for the Suna nin. Arika and Jiro each finish off a couple of mercs with their attacks. Malik's opponent manages to avoid the explosion, but the following arrow hits its mark cleanly, dropping him. x.x The random newcomer Yama isn't so lucky, one of the remaining mercs intercepts and grapples with him. "You don't even have a ninja headband, what's your beef with us?!" >.<; Finally, the pyromaniac silence leader's eyes bug wide open as he's enveloped by a scorching wind. 8O "What's — this?! Like — fire — but — no — flame…burns…so…good!" X.X Swept up in a perverted nirvana, he falls to his knees and collapses in the dust.
Well, taking care of those last two mercs should be relatively easy, right? :D Hoho, if only. Of the two, the one that isn't currently struggling with Yama backs up nervously, though he doesn't seem to be worried primarily about the Suna nin now. "Aw man, this part always creeps me out! No way I'm turning into one of them, I'm going back to the main army!" C.C; With that, he turns tail and runs…while the slain mercenaries, including the blister-skinned leader, start to pick themselves up with painfully jerky movements like poorly-controlled mannequins.The Children are here. >}
The mercenaries' bodies resume their assault, two each of them slashing at Arika and Jiro, while the leader blows another blast of fire at Rikuto. With his lips shrunk by the scorch release, the fireball turns out unfocused and weak, but wide-spread.

The massive fireball rushes forth and consumes the image of the Miira utterly though he would appear to moving closer towards the leader. Those looking closely at Rikuto would see that his face and his cloak were smoking, and slightly charred. A hand stays over his mouth, hiding how much he was coughing, trying to force the embers from his lungs.
"You die here!" was shouted, but only the leader would hear as a genjutsu begins to ensnare him. Rikuto in his genjutsu begins to weave a almost impossibly long chain of seals before holding out the tiger seal. From the flames and smokes around the city rise up dragons which breathed embers. Each raise their heads back before surging forward, each ripping a limb from the main body before swallowing it.. leaving the leader to bleed to death in a bed of embers.

Arika squeaks, claws going through clone as she dances back and away from the attackers. She makes a seal, and wind whips up around her, the girl drawing upon it and sharpening its edge so that as she breathes out, the wind would slice and tear at the now-Hitokage that are plaguing the village. She considers briefly poking at Gyuki, but decides it's a bad idea.

Wait, these guys were dead what the heck is happening? Jiro turns back to face those that come at him and he can't quite get his cloth up in time, taking a hit to his shoulder. But he doesn't let it slow him down as he manages to block the second attack. He quickly pulls the cloth back and with a few quick movements he flicks it towards the nearest attackers, aiming to try and hit them in the heart or head, somewhere to hopefully keep them down this time!

Malik blinks under the hood of his vest as the man he just killed got right back up as a zombie. If one could see under the mask that he wears over his lower face, they'd be seeing his mouth hanging slack. "I was told stories about these guys but I never expected to see one." He leans back to dodge the bladed strike, the attack being so close that it actually catches his clothing, causing a small tear in them. Malik frowns and then kicks out towards the back of the knee of the zombie. If he can get it to fall to one knee, he'd then reposition himself behind it and aim an arrow for the back of it's head.

"Ah, so it's a grappling match you want," Yama states with the guy as they tussle around the area. He was ticked as he was blocked from his target, but since this goon was his new opponent, he'd gladly show him what's what. He forced the goon into an opening to expose him and begin throwing punches towards the guy. "I don't have any beef or a cow to bring it from, what are you even talking about?" He questioned. "And how does that even relate to a headband? What kind of cow wears a headband?" He was genuinely confused right now. Was that some sort of branding thing in these parts? Either way, this guy was causing problems and needed to be taken down.

Don'tcha just hate dealing with things that don't feel pain? :P The thing inside the Silence leader's body laughs at Rikuto's proclamation and the attempt to frighten him with mortal imagery. "I'M — ALREADY — DEAD!!! Let me teach you how it FEELS!" >D He sets his own hands ablaze with a quick spout of flame, then comes after Rikuto with a red-hot one-two combo. Meanwhile, Arika and Jiro are faring decently well with their opponents, each getting a couple hits in, but it doesn't seem to faze the blasphemies very much. They keep awkwardly swinging their weapons despite cut limbs. Malik's opponent manages to twist his leg in such a way to take the force out of the kick on it, but the arrow goes straight though his skull…for what it's worth, as he turns around and tries to headbutt Malik with the protruding arrow. >v< Yama at least is doing nicely, smacking his opponent heartily. "Owww! Dad's by noje!" DX The mercenary swings wildly at Yama through a haze of tears. Well, at least this one might end up being taken down without being killed, so there's one less meat puppet.

"Dead? Before you ev.." while he spoke, Rikuto's guard dropped and was struck cleanly in the face. Poof! Yet another clone, almost a dozen at this point and there were still more. Poof! Popped the second clone, though it would be seen Rikuto was starting to favor one side than the other, the flames making his clones nearly useless. "Forget it.. You can't feel pain.. good. Stand still."
The young teen's words were dry as his fingers flew into a new pattern this time. The result was a single flame, smaller than one of the younger genin's heads. Jumping away from the leader he shouts, "You like flames? Taste mine!" The flame didn't explode but it did move on its own, soon trying to burrow itself into the man's chest.

Arika squeaks, backpedalling and avoiding further damage from the blades as she manages to see the Hitokage lash out at her just in time. She takes a moment to collect her chakra, then makes a handseal as she kicks out, sending a good blast of wind at a group of gathered enemies. "Jiro-kun! Ma-kun!" she shouts, trying to get the pair to attack those who may have fallen to the ground.

Jiro is not used to fighting the dead, that's for shield sure. When his attacks hit but don't actually seem to /do/ anything the boy is wary. As it is his defenses seem to suffer from it and another attack sneaks through to open a small gash across his chest. At least he managed to blunt most of the blow. Jiro quickly whips his cloth towards his attackers feet, trying to trip him up before drilling against for some type of vital point. When he hears his name the kids head snaps over to Arika and he quickly moves, jumping towards one of her targets to try and drill into that hellspawn as well. "You 'kay Ari?" He asks quickly, trying to look around to see how everyone else is fairing against these…things.

Malik's eyes widen as the arrow did no real damage. When the headbutt came, he leans back, the arrow missing his own head by scant inches before he pops back up and rapid fires two arrows at the man's face at point blank range, aiming for his eyes. If he wouldn't die, then he's attempt to take his sight. Sinbad pinwheels in the air and then dives towards the zombie's back, trying to keep his balance off to give Malik time to line up both shots. "I'm coming Arika…Jiro look after her until I get there…" He's sure the other genin is already on it though. Those two were as thick as thieves.

Yama gathers his chakra together to spread across his body and reinforce it to take in the haymaker that came for him. "That was a poor attack. I am ashamed for having to endure it," he remarked as he launched another three punch combo towards the goon. "This is how you throw a punch!" The last of his three hits was a haymaker performed in a similar fashion to the goon.

The Silence 'leader' leers at Rikuto, preparing to dodge the slow-moving flame. Should be easy, right? Well, for some reason the body doesn't move quite quickly enough. c.c Maybe there was some lingering trace of its original owner that wanted to experience the fiery attack. Or maybe the scene runner wanted to give it a chance to work because he's trying to wrap up the scene. Whatever the case, the phantom flame does indeed burn through the corpse's chest. The man's head turns downward to peer at the new hole in his midriff. o.o Well that's pretty useless, a fire-user with no lungs to blow with! >P The body promptly collapses, whether because its pilot decided to abandon ship or was forced back to the realm from which it came.
Arika's wind pushes the ungainly corpses around, preventing them from avoiding the punishment that comes from Jiro's cloth and Malik's arrows. And it seems that said punishment is finally enough, causing the bodies to shudder and fall. After taking another flurry of punches, it's lights-out for Yama's opponent too. @.@ Fortunately he's not getting back up as a zombie, just now at least.
Well, threat dealt with, and the wagon train has a good head-start now! And a good thing too, because the horizon is starting to turn cloudy with the dust of many marching feet. c.c Time to high-tail it outta here!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!